The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Will You Still Feed Me?

When I get older, losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending me a Valentine? Birthday greetings, bottle of wine? If I’d been out till quarter to three, Would you lock the door? Will you still need me? Will you still feed me, When I’m sixty-four? Turning 64 is an auspicious […]

How Am I Related to Pocahontas?

Having traced the ancestry of my paternal grandmother Perlonia McCain (née Bolt) all the way back to Rollo the Viking — seriously, that’s what the Internet says — my son Jefferson also took a look at the ancestry of my maternal grandfather, Hermit Eiland Kirby, whose father was William Thomas Kirby. His father, William Terry Kirby, […]

Music Cue: ‘Immigrant Song’

Genealogy is fun, although I’m not entirely sure that online sources are reliable. At any rate, my son Jefferson texted me today about some of the research I’d done. It seems his girlfriend’s family can trace their ancestry to William the Conqueror, and here I’d gotten no further back than the Revolutionary War. But I […]

Just a Random Grandbaby Video

Got some day-job stuff to keep me busy this morning, and I’m thinking about doing one of my long, long posts that might take all day (or longer) to write. Glenn Reynolds recently shared “Thoughts on the Population Implosion,” which is a social problem that my numerous offspring have been doing their share to solve. […]

Walrus Hunters Rescued in Canada

When my wife told me this story, which sounds like it was written by Jack London, I could scarcely believe it, but now I’ve seen the pictures and watched the video — screencap above — and can confirm that it actually happened. Three hunters from the Inuit village of Igloolik had gone out Saturday in […]

Eulogy for a Great Southern Lady

(My cousin Trish asked me to give a eulogy for my Aunt Pat Huber at the memorial service July 2 in Mableton, Georgia.) The Roman poet Ovid said, “If you want to be loved, be lovable.” And I think everyone who knew Pat Huber would agree that she was a very lovable person. She was […]

The Fourth of July and the Partriotic Return of the Big Yellow Button

  LITHIA SPRINGS, GEORGIA My family and I are gathered here this Saturday for the funeral of my Aunt Pat, one of the finest Southern ladies you can imagine, and I have been asked to speak a brief eulogy at the service. My brother and I rode down with my son Jim at the wheel, […]

Sgt. McCain: Behind Enemy Lines

My Army son just survived a mission in hostile territory. He has been assigned to the newly revived 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska, which will specialize in arctic combat. Just in case there is some country in a northern area (perhaps on the other side of the Bering Strait) that wants trouble, if you […]

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